DLC for the Infinity Ward sequel is hot enough to rival full retail title releases. Quarter game and DLC sales combined beat 2010’s best seller.
”In May, we released the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 stimulus package Map Pack on the PS3 and the resurgence back on the 360, which collectively sold more than 5 million copies during the quarter alone,” revealed Activision CFO Thomas Tippl.
”In fact, for the first half of the year, Call of Duty map packs have generated enough revenue to rank among the top five retail releases in the US and Europe thus far in 2010. And if you take catalogue sales of Modern Warfare 2, and map pack sales for the first half of the year, they have generated more revenues than the number one selling title of 2010.”
Map packs entrench loyalty to the IP he said. ”These products not only drive meaningful levels of high-margin revenue, they also help generate a deeper loyalty among the fan base, drive increased stickiness to the physical product, which encourages gamers to keep their copies rather than reselling them and opens up new opportunities for the future as more and more players evolve their engagement with the brands.”
Many have complained about the unusually high price of Modern Warfare 2’s map packs, but we consumers in the end don’t seem to mind all that much if we go by sales.